Multiple bin shipping and storage assembly



10 has the advantage of being constructed from relatively few and inexpensive elements with only a single panel 38 needed to cooperate with the room walls and the door to hide the contents of the wardrobe and thereby utilize the usually wasted fioor space behind the open door of an oflice to economic advantage. Also, the wardrobe is easily installed, easily maintained, and well ventilated.

I claim as my invention:

1. A wardrobe adapted for mounting in a corner of a room defined by first and second walls, the room having an opening in the first wall and a door pivotally hung in the opening, said wardrobe comprising, in combination with said door, a shelf assembly including a bracket adapted to be secured to the second wall, and including a shelf secured to said bracket, said shelf being positioned on said bracket so as to be behind said door when the latter is open, and a cover panel mounted on said shelf normal to the second wall, parallel to the first wall and spaced from the first wall by a distance substantially equal to the width of said door, whereby when said door is fully open, said door and said cover panel together with the first and second walls define a substantially enclosed and concealed wardrobe.

2. The combination of claim 1 including retaining means on said door and said cover panel for cooperating engagement to retain said door in its fully opened position to enclose and conceal the contents of the wardrobe.

3. The combination of claim 1 including means for releasably securing said shelf in an adjusted position upon said bracket and with respect to said first wall at which said cover panel is closely adjacent the outer edge of the door when the latter is fully open.

4. The combination of claim 2 in which said retaining means includes a magnet for retaining said door in its fully opened position by magnetic attraction.

5. A wardrobe for installation behind a door and in a corner of a room defined by first and second room walls comprising, in combination, shelf brackets for mounting on one of the walls at vertically and horizontally spaced locations thereon, shelf rods extending generally parallel to that wall and secured to said brackets to afford shelf surfaces and spaced hanger support for garments, a cover panel, secured in substantially normal relation to the ends of the shelf rods remote from the other room wall, means for securing said shelf rods to said shelf brackets to space said cover panel from said brackets and at a position adjacent the free edge of the door when the latter is fully open, and retaining means on said cover panel and the door to hold the latter in its fully open position adjacent the cover panel to conceal said shelf rods and brackets.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,663,949 3/1928 Lawton 312-238 X 2,200,934 5/1940 Platt et al 312-248 X 2,944,863 7/ 1960 Bertelesen 312-238 3,239,296 3/1966 Langor 312204 3,313,424 4/1967 Gingher 21l94 X CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner.

Sept. 26, 1967 R. E. ROY

MULTIPLE BIN SHIPPING AND STORAGE ASSEMBLY 2 Sheets-Sh Filed June 9, 1966 M g: M H F /NVENT01.

ROBERT E. ROY 6V QA- M Sept. 26, 1967 R. E. ROY 3,343,903

MULTIPLE BIN SHIPPING AND STORAGE ASSEMBLY Filed June 9, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IS F a "ll /l/ IN VENTOR.

ROBERT E ROY BY B'r-cuwa United States Patent 3,343,903 MULTIPLE BIN SHIPPING AND STORAGE ASSEMBLY Robert E. Roy, 301 Kinney St., Syracuse, N.Y. 13206 Filed June 9, 1966, Ser. No. 556,353 6 Claims. (Cl. 312285) The invention relates to a unitary multiple bin shipping assembly, each bin being sealed during shipment and easily openable and accessible from a side of the assembly without disassembly when used for storage.

The assembly comprises a plurality of identical corrugated board boxes or containers stacked and secured on a pallet for shipping. Each container is easily opened without the use of special tools and constitutes an improvement over the boxes disclosed by the same inventor in his copending applications Ser. No. 462,826, filed June 10, 1965, and Ser. No. 516,049, filed Dec. 23, 1965.

Each container comprises an open top box and a sleeve Wrapped around the top, bottom, front, and back of the box, the sleeve being provided with a tear strip at the front for opening the sleeve. The front of each box is provided with a downwardly swinging openable door which is precut for easy opening when the sleeve is opened, the front being provided also with tabs which engage with the door when opened to form a hopper opening providing access to the contents of the box.

The containers are stacked on the pallet in tiers or layers, the containers of each layer being arranged about the perimeter of the pallet so that each container has its front accessible from a side of the assembly. Means are provided for securing the containers on the pallet for shipment and for securing the assembly together when used for storage.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a multiple bin assembly for shipment and storage of assorted items such as miscellaneous hardware, each bin being easily opened so as to be accessible without destroying the unitary character of the assembly.

Another important object is to provide a plurality of corrugated board containers secured and arranged on a pallet so that each container is easily opened and accessible from the side without removing the containers from the pallet.

A further object is to provide a container of rugged construction stackable on a pallet with easily secured and easily openable means at one of its sides for access to the contents of the container.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of one form of an assembly according to the invention secured together for shipment;

FIGURE 2 is a similar view of the assembly with the containers opened for accessibility during storage, a portion of the top being cut away to show the arrangement at the center of the assembly;

FIGURE 3 is a diagrammatic view of the blank from which each container box is formed;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the box portion of a container;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the sleeve portion of a container;

FIGURE 6 is a plan view on a larger scale of the box portion of the container;

FIGURE 7 is a front elevational view thereof;

FIGURE 8 is a front elevational view of a container with a modified form of sleeve; and

FIGURE 9 is a side elevational view thereof;

FIGURE 10 is a cross sectional view of a modified form of stack forming means.

Hce

In the drawings the assembly 10 comprises a plurality of containers 11, whose construction is hereinafter described, arranged in a plurality of layers on a pallet 12, and provided with a top 13 of sheet material which may be plywood but is preferably a double layer of corrugated board.

The containers are arranged in rows along each of the sides of the pallet so that the front of each container on two opposed sides of the pallet is on that side facing outward of the assembly and the front of each container except the corner container of each row on the other two opposed sides of the assembly faces outward on that side. The containers 11, pallet 12, and top 13 are so dimensioned that their outer sides are vertically aligned when the containers are arranged in compacted rows as shown.

It will be understood that when each row of containers comprises only two there will be no space at the center of the assembly but when three containers, as shown, or more are in each row a space may be left at the center. In order to prevent shifting of the containers toward the center, a chimney or sleeve 14 of corrugated board is provided as shown in FIGURE 2. Alternatively, a stack of containers 11 may be provided at the center but, of course, they are inaccessible until the assembly is disassembled.

Means are provided for securing the assembly together. The means may be by glueing the containers and other members together but the preferred means is in the form of a plurality of steel bands 15 secured around pallet, top and each row of containers to secure the assembly together for shipping. Conventional means, not shown, for securing the ends of the bands together are used. All but two of the bands, which pass around the corner boxes so as not to interfere with the box openings, may be removed as shown in FIGURE 2 when the containers are opened.

Each container 11 comprises an open top box 16 and a sleeve 17 as shown, respectively, in FIGURES 4 and 5. Sleeve 17 is formed in conventional manner with the ends of the blank from which it is made secured together by a paper strip 18 glued at the front of the sleeve as shown. A string 19 across the front at the junction of the blank ends is provided to form a tear strip for easily opening the sleeve at the front of the container.

The box portion or member 16 of container 11 is folded from the blank 29, FIGURE 3. The blank 20 has a rectangular bottom panel 21 provided with holes or depressions 22, only partially through the corrugated board, at the ends of the panel, as shown, for a purpose hereinafter described.

Joined to bottom panel 21 along fold lines indicated by dot-dash lines are front panel 23, back panel 24 and side panels 25 and 26. These panels are foldable upward to form the sides of box 16.

Front panel 23 is provided with a door 27 which is precut, preferably by perforation, indicated by the broken lines, so that the door may be opened by tearing along the perforations. A perforated finger hole 28 is provided at the top of the door to facilitate opening the door and slots 29, 2.9 are provided at the ends of the door for engagement with locking tabs. These slots maybe perforated if desired rather than out out, as shown. The bottom of the door is not perforated but when open remains hingedly attached to panel 23 along the fold line as indicated.

At either side of panel 23, extension panels 35 31 are hingedly joined to panel 23 along fold lines for forming one layer of the box sides. At the end of extension panels 349 and 31 second extension panels 32 and 23- are hingedly joined thereto along fold lines for folding inward along the back panel. 

1. A MULTIPLE BIN SHIPPING AND STORAGE ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A RIGID BASE HAVING A PLURALITY OF BOX-LIKE CONTAINERS STACKED THEREON IN A PLURALITY OF TIERS AND A TOP OF SHEET MATERIAL SECURED TOGETHER IN A UNITARY ASSEMBLY FOR SHIPPING, THE CONTAINERS OF EACH TIER BEING ARRANGED IN ROWS AROUND THE PERIMETER OF THE ASSEMBLY, EACH CONTAINER BEING MANUALLY OPENABLE AT A FRONT SIDE FACING OUTWARD OF THE ASSEMBLY, EACH CONTAINER COMPRISING A BOX MEMBER AND SLEEVE MEMBER, EACH MEMBER BEING FORMED FROM A SINGLE BLANK OF CORRUGATED BOARD MATERIALS, EACH UNOPENED CONTAINER HAVING FRONT AND BACK SIDES OF AT LEAST TWO LAYERS OF CORRUGATED MATERIAL AND THE OTHER TWO OPPOSED SIDES OF EACH CONTAINER HAVING AT LEAST FOUR LAYERS OF CORRUGATED MATERIAL FOR SUPPORTING THE CONTAINERS OF THE TIERS ABOVE IT, WHEREBY THE ASSEMBLY BECOMES A COMPARTMENTED STORAGE BIN WITH ACCESS TO THE CONTENTS OF EACH CONTAINER WHEN THE CONTAINERS ARE OPENED. 